Does anyone have a floating engineered wood floor?

13 years ago

Posting here for some fresh ideas. I think the Flooring Forum is sick of reading about my problems.

We have a slab but the moisture content is over 3 lbs per 1000 which is the limit for engineered wood on concrete. The GC wants to install as a floating floor over a vinyl membrane. NO flooring company I have talked to has ever done that. ProSource says we are good if we use a moisture control adhesive.

Another poster told me they had the same problem and installed their wood over plywood and membrane. But we have too many doors for that, and one is an exterior door.

I want wood floor, not laminate and I don't want that hollow sound that floating laminates have.

We have been dealing with this and other issues related to a leak we had in June. We've been walking on the concrete slab that still has glue and wood splinters from the previous wood floor AND we have a musty smell that we can't track down. Our bed is in the middle of the family room and our clothes and dressers in other rooms. NO ONE is allowed to walk in my front door. I don't want to explain the bed in the middle of the room to anyone! It's worn me down to the point that I am just sick and depressed about it, and I don't know what to do.

We did have issues with the previous glued down engineered floor. A calcium chloride test wasn't used then, and the flooring wasn't acclimated. A lot of our neighbors have glued down engineered with no problems, and all the houses built by the same builder.

Any advice is appreciated.

This post was edited by marti8a on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 0:30

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Comments (8)

gwlolo
13 years ago
Marti - we have floating engineered hardwood over slab. Can you get anyone to see of you have any old plumbing buried in the slab that is leaking? This is be of the things we did. We had floating engineer wood from Summitt Forest Products. It had a nice handscraped look and none believes me when I say they are engineered. They don't look site finished but do not look like Pergo either. We had it glued near transitions to tile etc. Looks like you are stuck in analysis paralysis. Consider delegating this decision to another person who will just research and get it done and then you can move on to other things. I found that in our remodel, DH and I needed to delegate to one another a few times to take a break and get some distance. Good luck!
User
Original Author
13 years ago
GWlolo, what did it sound like when you walked on it? And what kind of membrane was it over?

Dh delegated this to me I'm afraid.

We had a pressurized test done on the foundation several years ago, but I'll check the leak detector on the meter.
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User
Original Author
13 years ago
Post Script: Yesterday I did an online chat with a Shaw rep and asked about the glue recommended by ProSource. That person said if we did that, the adhesive company would be responsible for the warranty, not Shaw. Last night after hours, I emailed the company with the floating over membrane question and mentioned the glue chat. The reply from that is that if the Shaw glue was used, even at the 3.98 lbs per 1000 of one test, the floor would be warranted, and if we chose to use a membrane that it would also be warranted as long as the membrane was wrapped up the wall.

So that's good I think. At least it's in writing.

Now if we can just find the source of that smell.
lascatx
13 years ago
I do have engineered wood over a slab. I thought they were gong to glue it down, but they did a floating installation over a membrane -- a thin foil clad foam pad, actually. The piece I have done't have any name on it. I was not 100% thrilled when we did have some noise walking on it - more in some areas than others, but now that it has been down a while, I don't generally hear any hollow noises.

Do find out where the musty smell is coming from. It could even be a slow leak in a wall or above that trickles down and hits the slab. Have you taken humidity readings for the air in your home? You can get inexpensive thermometers that also measure humidity. Molds and mildew can rev up above 50%.
User
Original Author
13 years ago
Since the smell wasn't here before the leak, I think water got into something that the water restoration company didn't get dried out. If I can't find the source in the next day or two, I'll call and have them come back out.
User
Original Author
13 years ago
I had a plumber out today and the good news is that there is no leak in the plumbing in the slab. There is a leak somewhere between the house and a backyard faucet and dh is out there digging right now. Fun.
gwlolo
13 years ago
Marti - I missed the follow up q.. The floor for most part sounds fine. There a couple of places where the floor seemed have a pop noise when we walked on it but now that we have been in the house for a few days, it seems to have settled in. I must say that the handscraped look makes it feel more like wood floor than laminate. The transitions between wood and tile is pretty seamless.
msrose
13 years ago
Marti8a - I have a concrete slab also, so I'll be watching this post to see what you end up going with :)